From the Ashes
by nuke
Summary: The firing of Oracle part 2 , the problems caused by Phoenix


From the Ashes

This kind of carries on from the "Firing of Oracle" and airs some of the problems that would arise from the situation. To be honest I never gave these problems much thought until I was presented with them, ok hit over the head with them repeatedly( Ta , Ant !) 

Disclaimer bit, I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this story they all belong to DC comics but the plot is all my own so if you see any mistakes or you don't like it then its all my fault and no one else's. 

Any feed back at all would be appreciated, Thanks for taking the time to read this, 

Ta, Nuke 

" I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases that have more power than magik. The most well known of these is, of course, **_I love you_**. But by far the most deadly is, **_if only_**. "

David Gemmell, 'Morningstar'.

It had only been a matter of days since the transformation and Dick Grayson still could not believe his eyes. He sat in the Oracles den, lounging in an easy chair waiting for his love, Phoenix sauntered into the room and removed her mask ,

"Dick, we need to talk ". 

As both Robin and Nightwing he had faced many perilous situations but these few words sent a cold shiver through his body as fear took its hold.

"Talk, what about?"

As he answered his mind raced to come up with any possible problems and their solutions .

"About us, Phoenix ,Oracle"

Dick looked over at his love and steeled his heart against what was coming next.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes"

He knew what was coming up next. It had all started on their first routine patrol together.

It had been a quiet night, three break ins and a mugging when they had got they had came across a hold up. Three teens with guns decided to get a little extra money by holding up a petrol station. Nightwing and Phoenix arrived as the three youths emerged onto the fore court ,

"Hey Mick , where's Neil with the car ?"

"I dunno what do you think I am 'is keeper?"

"You two shut it ! I don't like this something's wrong."

Nightwing flipped from their vantage point and landed silently behind the trio. Using The Voice he had learnt from Batman he answered 

"You got that right!"

With out any hesitation he kicked with his right foot hitting the nearest teen in the solar plexus knocking him winded to the floor and pivoted on his left foot he span and kicked the second with a spinning heel kick. The third deciding that discretion was the better part of valour ran, out of the corner of his eye he saw Phoenix land in front of the youth and settle into a fighting stance. Without Nightwing threw one of his escrima sticks hitting the advancing teen just before he got in striking distance of his love.

This he knew was the problem, in every potentially dangerous situation they had come across he had stopped Babs from getting involved, from getting hurt , putting himself in danger so that he wouldn't fail her again as he had the night the Joker crippled her body and crushed her spirit .

Babs sat down pulling Dick from his thoughts , Dick sat studying her face her face was smiling but the twinkle was gone from her eyes "Uh oh here it comes " Dick muttered to himself .

"Its about us , we can't go on like this !"

Dick was stunned his chest had tightened and a cold shiver ran up and down his spine ," Wha wha …"

"No listen to me please, this is hard enough to say as it is so don't interrupt. I need some time alone to discover who I am and the direction that my life is going to take and I can't do that with you acting like Bruce all the time protecting me from every little thing ".

Dicks mind whirled what could he say .He knew he should say that he only wanted to help , that he loved her with his heart and soul. That he would do anything for her. Anything for her ,that was the problem she needed time and if their love meant anything then he had to give it to her.

Barbara Gordon stared at her love she could see the pain in his eyes as her words decimated his soul. The defences that she knew so well snapped into place as he tried to grin convincingly and laugh off her comments and hide her from his pain. 

Altering his voice to sound like Bruce in his playboy persona,

"Well you know what they say darling like father like son , God forbid the son of such an infamous playboy be seen with the same woman for too long !"

With that he stood up and walked to the window , with a last glance over his shoulder 

" See ya round hot stuff."

"See ya round my boy wonder" she whispered in reply as tears filled her eyes.

**__**

Chapter 2

'Wing drove his cycle into the cave at a sedate almost lethargic pace, this its self was enough of an indication for Tim to know that something was wrong . 

Since becoming Robin the bond between the two heroes had grown closer , they were more than just friends they had found in each other a kindred spirit sharing the same passion for justice, the same love of the mask .They were brothers not of blood but of the soul .

He felt Dicks hand ruffle his hair,

"Hey Tim what's up?"

The boy known as Robin turned around his face sombre and looked at his brothers face . Dicks easy smile graced his face but Tim could tell that Dick was hurting , There where few people close to Dick could hurt him this way and it didn't take training from the worlds greatest detective to guess who .

"You an Babs had a fight huh?"

Dick shrugged his shoulders and gave a non committal grunt ,

"What are you working on ?"

"Nothing serious its just something that has been nagging at me. The other day I was hangin' with the guys when WonderGirl walked in with a new computer Virtual Reality game called 'Consequences'. The machine is able to select the perfect consequence for your actions for you based on information it gathers from your answers to questions that it asks".

"What's the problem? It just sounds like a high tech version of Truth or Dare."

"Well Cassie said that the game only became really fun on the highest level so they all input their information and started to play. I was on the computer searching for some information for Bruce so I just watched. After playing for around half an hour them all doing some really funny stuff to watch they all started to act strangely .

"What do you mean by strangely?"

Dicks interest had been peaked and besides he thought to himself its better to keep busy than to brood about him and Babs .

"Well Cassie threw her self at Superboy kissing him and trying to undress him , While she was doing that Superboy was trying to peel her off so he could go and look at himself in the mirror ….

"And Impulse?" Dick interrupted 

Tim smiled " Who can tell with him what's normal and what's strange!"

"So what's the problem it just sounds like a game that's got out of hand ?"

"Well I've done a little research and it seems that there has been a rise in child crime over the last few weeks ever since this game came out . When questioned all the children have answered that it was something they had dreamed of doing .

Nightwing sat down next to Tim and thought , It was hard to carry out your dreams and desires it took guts , courage , the ability to over come your …..

Dick looked up acting casual it was obvious that Tim hadn't put it all together yet .

" Well do you have an address for the company that makes this game ? After all I have nothing better to do so I can go check it out for you and relive your worries."

Tim pressed a button and printed out the address. Dick recognised the area it was down by the docks in the old industrial area . He walked over to his cycle and picked up his helmet ,

"I'll check in if I find something .

**__**

Chapter 3

It was one of the first rules that Bruce had taught him, you give 100% and then you give more. It had been a mistake to go after him while he was preoccupied with what was happening between him and Babs, he had broken the rule and so he had paid the price , he had been captured , brutally beaten and bound . He tested he ropes that held him in place, there was no give, no room to manoeuvre. He looked around for something to use to escape nothing.

He walked over his face obscured by his mask in his hand a syringe full of a viscous green fluid , full of nightmares . 

His voice was thin and wheezy as he spoke yet filled with the confidence of his convictions, filled with madness.

"We have more in common than you might suppose, you and I. We both act on the strength of our convictions we were both formed nay created through fear . We only differ in how we react I embraced mine and let it shape me .YOU on the other hand reject yours and fight it letting other emotions rule you . As Lovecraft said ,

'The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear !"

"I knew sooner or later that one of his brood would discover my ploy and track me down after all 'I believe that children are our future.'

With this he started to cackle loudly ,

"Through the youth of this city I will rule for Fear is a tyrant more potent than the deadliest viper more terrible than the wildest animal , and I the Scarecrow am fear incarnate ! But before my reign of terror starts there is something I must do….."

"Ooo ,Don't tell me find the magic sword , defeat the wicked Queen and kiss the princess! Get a clue Crane if I'm here then Batman knows and your days are ..

Nightwing's reply was cut short as the Scarecrow kicked him in the chest breaking a rib and robbing him of breath .

"As I was saying I must face my fear and overcome it , did you know as a child I suffered from ornithophobia? A fear of birds , and what do I find on my escape from prison but my city has become a regular roost . I will not have MY city infected with these winged scavengers therefore my plan to eradicate the Bats birds ,Robin, Nightwing and Phoenix!"

With that Crane stuck the needle into Nightwing's arm .

"NOOOOO ! " Nightwing's body was racked with convulsions as he tried to curl up into a ball tears streaming down his face . In his minds eye he could see his parents falling , Babs being shot by the Joker , The Joker killing Jason and the look of hurt on Bruce's face when he had left. He gave voice to his pain , an inarticulate scream more animal than human .

"So," The Scarecrow wheezed, "What does he who inspires fear fear?

May be Merinthophobia , a fear of being tied up ? No , he must be used to that by now .

As the Scarecrow mused on Dicks anguish Dick softly repeated ,

"It's all my fault, its all my fault"

"Aahhh, of course atychiphobia , the fear of failure , so who did you fail bird boy? Who did you fail?"

Cranes voice had dropped to a sibilant hiss.

"If only you could have been there , if only you were better , if only you had reacted quicker , if only you had really loved her , if only , if only ,if only …

Each whisper sapped his resolve , stole his strength , if only it wasn't all true .Nightwing lay on the floor quietly repeating to himself ,if only , as the Scarecrow left the room cackling to himself in glee .

**__**

Chapter 4

Tim sat in the Batcave staring at the monitors, it had been two hours since Dick had left and he hadn't checked in .He started to worry, Dick had been preoccupied maybe he should call Babs just to see if he was there , then again they had been arguing so the likely hood that he wasn't . He activated the tracker on Dicks cycle , it was still in the Docks area , Dick must have ran into trouble .

Whatever could take down Nightwing was more than he could handle , with out thinking he activated the computer link to Oracle .

After a while Babs activated the link , from her red eyes Tim could see that she had been crying , he wondered briefly what they had been fighting about .

"Babs its Dick …"

Oracle made Tim tell her everything from his small worry to Dicks reactions and questions . As he was telling her it struck Tim.

"Scarecrow !"

"What ?"

"It's the Scarecrow , kids acting out their dreams , without fear of consequence , fear , it's the Scarecrow . he even called the game 'Consequences' its almost as if he wanted to be caught !"

"Which means it's a trap. Tim give me that address I'm going after Dick , It I'll be all my fault if he's been hurt , if only…."

It took Phoenix ten minutes to get to the Dock area and find Nightwing's cycle . She decided to scout out the area before entering the building after all he had managed to capture Dick .

"If anything's happened to him," she murmured .She felt a presence behind her and with out turning.

"OK , Robin show yourself." He walked up to her sheepishly looking at the floor .

"What are you doing here ?"

"Well you never said don't come down and Dick would kill me if you got hurt and …."

He paused and looked down to the roof they were standing on .

"And you where worried about your big brother and wanted to help ".

Tim looked up a shy smile lighting up his face ," Yeah , but I was worried about you to Sis ."

Phoenix looked at him a shocked expression on her face , she knew her and Tim where close but this was the first time he had called her family . She wiped a tear from her eye and smiled at the young hero .

" Lets go teach Scarecrow what it means to mess with our family!"

Security on the building was minimal but as they knew that it was a trap the two heroes expected reinforcements. From their vantage point they could see Nightwing through a broken window lying bound on the floor gently rocking repeating some unintelligible litany .

Resisting the urge to surge in through the window and comfort her love she signalled to robin to aim for the adjacent roof. Landing lightly she watched with pride as her new little brother took out the sentry silently. Checking the door for traps she led the way in to the stair well closely followed by Robin. They quickly descended the stairs to the floor which held Nightwing.

Letting Robin in front she watched as he picked the lock and oiled the door hinges to allow them to enter stealthily. As they scanned the room they could see two possible exits one leading to Dick the other Jonathon Crane . Creeping forward silently they each took a door on the count of three they both burst into the same room. As they did spotlight beams where shone on them and they could hear the scuffling of feet , the cackle of laughter and the pain of Nightwing .

"So my other guests have finally arrived , well it is time to lay my fear to rest , I must admit I have always enjoyed killing birds".

With that Phoenix threw her escrima sticks at the sources of light breaking their blinding beams . As her eye sight returned she could just make out Crane sitting at the back of the room watching as his thugs approached .

With a quickness born from constant training Robin and Phoenix took the initiative and attacked. Robin unfurled his collapsible Bo staff and took care of the three thugs on the right leaving the three on the left to Phoenix. Moving so they stood back to back they fought as a team each defending the other as if they had fought together before. They hadn't but each had fought next to men whose moves were identical to each other so they complimented each other well.

The thugs were trained to fight as a team trying to separate and overwhelm their opponents but their efforts where in vain . Then it happened Crane entered the fray and saturated the combatants with his fearful neuro toxin each curled into a ball all succumbing to their own darkest fears sinking into a state of helplessness .

Phoenix faced her inner demons ,

" Your useless , He didn't love you he pitied you , from physical cripple to an emotional cripple pathetic!, look at you the perfect hostage , its your fault he is in this mess, If only you had told him that you still loved him , if only you hadn't sent him away, if only , if only .."

From her position on the floor she watched as Crane pulled a gun and stalked the prone figure of her beloved .

"No intricate traps , No last minute rescues , no explanations for what I am doing I'm just going to shoot you and leave your bodies to fuel the Bats neuroses.

For 'where fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain'. 

With her passion for research and books Phoenix fought to remember where she had read that quote . Then it hit her it was a passage from 'Dune' by Frank Herbert but it was taken out of context for it was from the litany of fear a passage to help overcome is fear not to surrender to it .

Phoenix began her own litany to fight her fear 'There is nothing to fear except fear itself , fear is the emotion that deadens the mind and closes the heart '. She repeated it to herself each time taking strength from her love and her need to protect him .

Slowly , shakily , silently she stood and faced the Scarecrow , preferring speed to stealth she threw herself at the Scarecrow hitting him in the shoulder with her flying kick spinning him away from his target as he fired . The bullet hit the opposite wall.

Crane dropped the gun and assumed a fighting stance.

"So the Phoenix rises from the ashes of her submission how apt " Cranes voice dripped with irony 

The two fighters began to spar each testing each other for weakness and pressing for advantage . Within a few heartbeats Phoenix had identified the Scarecrows style .

"White Crane Kung fu , how predictable"

Pushing the Scarecrow back with a flurry of kicks and punches Phoenix could now hear Nightwing's litany 

"Its all my fault , if only , if only "

Distracted by the pain in his voice Phoenix found her self being forced back as the Scarecrow pressed the advantage. Getting desperate Phoenix deliberately lowered her guard as if fatigue had taken its toll . Immediately Crane lunged in with a lunge punch , Phoenix parried the blow with her left arm and span to her right trapping his arm and using her momentum to strike the back of his neck with her elbow . releasing his arm she struck him with a ridge hand across the shoulders and swept his legs driving him to the floor and unconsciousness .

After securing the Scarecrow and his thugs Phoenix took the Anti toxin from her utility belt and administrated it to both Robin and Nightwing before calling the police and untying Dick .

By the time the police arrived to take her prisoners into custody Robin had revived but Nightwing was still catatonic . The police offered to call an ambulance but they had declined saying only that he was family and they would look after him.

**__**

Chapter 5

The next day at the Wayne estate Barbara Gordon sat watching her love as he twisted in his drug induced nightmare. It had been only minutes since Alfred had wished her good night and Tim had left to get some sleep himself . She sat watching contemplating all the heartache that her love had suffered and how he blamed himself for things beyond his control . Touching his face she settled down facing him .

"Dick , I know that you can hear me so please listen . What happened to your parents , to me was not your fault .I know you feel guilty for not making people listen about Zuco being in the tent but you tried and that is all anyone can do understand , no one blames you ! And my getting shot was no ones fault but mine for not checking the door ,You where not even in Gotham so how can you blame yourself . The only thing that you can blame yourself for is making me love you , do you hear me I love you ". 

Barbara started to cry and buried her face into her loved ones hair.

Dick stood facing his Demons .

"You could have saved your parents , if you hadn't left Jason would never have been killed , You should have been there to stop the Joker , How can you say you love her when you let her get shot ".

Barbara's words filtered through his fears , It wasn't his fault .

The voices got louder ," If only you hadn't gone , If only you had made them listen , If only you had been there ".

"She loves me !"

" If only you hadn't gone , If only you had made them listen , If only you had been there ".

"She loves me !"

" If only you hadn't gone , If only you had made them listen , If only you had been there ".

"**SHE LOVES ME!**"

With this final declaration Dick banished his demons and opened his eyes to find his love sobbing into his hair ," I love you my boy wonder "

"I love you hot stuff".

Barbara looked into his face and smiled the twinkle in her eyes lighting up once more , she dropped her eyes to her hands ,

" Dick , when I said I needed time , it was to think about whether to be Oracle or Phoenix and to see if you only pitied me because of the chair , I wanted to give you a way out , I wanted to ….."

The rest of her words where lost as their mouths met , their bodies melting together as his every action screamed I love you .

****

The End 

Thanks to all those who helped me with this and to class 5 who insisted that if they should have to write a story then I should have to write a story .


End file.
